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It sounds like science fiction, but a company in Utah has already implanted brain chips in dozens of patients.
Blackrock Neurotech, based in Salt Lake City, has the great ambition to cure physical paralysis, blindness, deafness and depression.
The chip, known as NeuroPort Array, allows people to control robotic arms and wheelchairs, play video games and even feel sensations.
It works by using nearly 100 microneedles that attach to the brain and read electrical signals produced by a person’s thoughts. More than three dozen people have received it so far.
The device was first implanted in a human in 2004. Company executives hope to bring it to market soon and announced that they are aiming for next year in 2021.
Nathan Copeland (left) has had a BCI for eight years and uses his device to create art and play video games. James Johnson (right) has been able to resume his career as a digital graphic designer after his paralysis cut it short
The NeuroPort Array (pictured) was developed by Blackrok Neurotech of Salt Lake City. The device can read a person’s brain signals and use them to control a robotic arm, type or perform other functions. Some hope that the emergence of these devices will be a revelation for the treatment of paralysis and other conditions
Tech mogul Elon Musk has launched similar plans with Neurolink, an implantable device he hopes can help similar groups.
Musk’s initial plans were balked earlier this year by regulators who rejected an attempt to test his implant in humans.
“We are the only company with direct-brain BCI implants in humans,” Marcus Gerhardt, co-founder of Blackrock, told DailyMail.com.
“Our implantable arrays have enabled people to connect directly to computers, control robotic arms and wheelchairs, play video games and even regain their senses – using only their brain signals.
Blackrock’s technology uses an implantable microchip with 96 arrays — tiny needle-shaped brain chips that can read and stimulate electrical signals.
It can be placed anywhere on the brain surface. Multiple devices can be placed on the brain of the same person.
Once implanted, the chip detects electrical signals generated by the wearer’s thoughts.
Machine learning software decodes these signals into digital commands, such as cursor movements, that can be used to control prosthetics and computer equipment.
This can help a person draw using a robotic arm, use computer programs, or drive a wheelchair or prosthetic limb.
But the company is now seeking FDA approval for devices built for use outside the lab, to be used at home by people with paralysis.
Gerhardt said, “We are seeking regulatory approval for the world’s first-ever BCI designed specifically for home use: MoveAgain.
“This medical device aims to increase the independence and mobility and ultimately the quality of life of people with paralysis.”
He hopes that BCIs will become as ubiquitous for paralyzed patients as pacemakers are for people with heart problems.
He continued, “Once available for home use, BCIs will help people build a new life that may have seemed impossible because of their disability; we think we will see people go back to work, gain more independence and interact with the world in powerful new ways.
“Our long-term vision is that our implants will become as readily available to people with paralysis as pacemakers are to people with heart problems.”
The company is already developing brain-computer interfaces to restore hearing and vision.
Mr Gerhardt said: ‘As technology continues to develop, we will see BCIs with indications for memory and mental health conditions such as anxiety and depression.’
It has been used on more than three dozen people whom Blackrock, who has no connection with the asset management firm, call “BCI pioneers.”
The device has been implanted in patients for 80 years without any reports of serious side effects.
However, the device does have some pitfalls. The arrays on the implant slowly break down over time, degrading the signal quality after about two years.
The device usually needs to be removed after about five years, requiring another surgery to take it out and then replace it.
Nathan Copeland has had a BCI for eight years and uses his BCI to create art with a robotic arm and play video games.
He is even able to feed himself, recently showing that he can eat a Taco Bell Cheesy Gordito Crunch using a robotic arm controlled by his brain.
Mr. Copeland’s art is now on display at The BCI Exhibit at AAAS in Washington DC.
Mr Gerhardt said: ‘When it comes to art, Nathan’s medium of choice is MS Paint or GIMP, but James Johnson is the most proficient BCI Photoshop user we’ve seen.
Marcus Gearhardt (pictured), CEO and co-founder of Blackrock Neurotech, told DailyMail.com that he hopes his company’s devices will help cure mental illness and revitalize people’s memories
“Before James became paralyzed, he had a small business doing photo manipulations for clients.
“Using his BCI has allowed him to use Photoshop again, and some of his artwork can also be seen at The BCI Exhibit.”
Mr Gerhardt says Blackrock first implanted a BCI in 2004 but has often shied away from publicity due to concerns about public perception of the devices.
“As a company, we’ve also taken a much more active role, getting out from behind the scenes and helping eager patients tell their stories,” he said.
“If patients get access to these devices outside the lab, I think public interest will really increase.
‘The sky is the limit for what BCIs will be able to do in the future.’
Mr Gerhardt believes the technology could be used in the near future to address everything from recovering lost memories to PTSD to depression.
“In depression, for example, BCI could hold promise for modulating neural activity in the brain regions involved in mood regulation,” he said.
“When it comes to disorders such as depression or PTSD, spatially and temporally targeted electrical or magnetic stimulation of neural tissue can help disrupt or reprogram firing patterns that lead to the disorder.”
The data could also lead to a new understanding of conditions such as depression – and how they are diagnosed and treated.
In the long run, BCI technology can be used to recover lost memories.
Gerhardt says, ‘Memory is a complex phenomenon, but advanced implantable BCI technologies may be able to use targeted electrical recording and stimulation of individual neurons and circuits to restore some of the functionality associated with memory formation and retrieval. .
“It’s possible that BCI technology also captures the patterns associated with specific memories and recreates them when necessary.”